NBA All-Star Weekend 2018 begins on Friday night in Los Angeles with a pair of fun matchups in the Celebrity Game and Rising Stars Game. That’s just the start, as the NBA’s yearly star showcase continues to ramp up in excitement on Saturday with a popular trio of events that include the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest and Dunk Contest. The weekend wraps up with an All-Star Game that bucks the traditional Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format and instead pits teams drafted by captains LeBron James and Stephen Curry against one another.

It’s an action-packed three days, but fans looking to further ramp up their investment in the competitions can opt to place a bet on the results. Sportsbooks are offering lines for each event this weekend, meaning you can gamble on anything from the total of Team Clippers versus Team Lakers—which is experimenting with a four-point line to add a unique variable to the wager—in the Celebrity Game to the winner of the All-Star Game MVP award and everything in between.

The NBA tweeted out the Celebrity Game lineups and a note about the 4-point line:

If you’re looking for advice on the best plays to make, you’ve come to the right place. Jon Price of SportsInformationTraders.com has an early lean on Friday night's action that you won’t want to miss. Before getting to the pro hoops handicapper’s initial pick—he’ll be providing further in-depth predictions on Saturday and Sunday— take a look at the complete schedule, tip-off times, TV info, updated odds for every event and more for the 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend.

The Rising Stars Game is the highlight of All-Star Friday night, pitting the United States against the rest of the world for the fourth-straight year. This used to be a battle between top rookies and sophomores, regardless of nationality, but the NBA tweaked the format to showcase the sheer amount of young international talent the league has to offer. Team World has a 2-1 record since the change, including a 150-141 victory in last year’s game. A handful of the players involved in that “W” will return for another appearance—including the game’s reigning MVP, Canadian national Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets, who dropped 36 points on 9-of-14 shooting from deep and dished 11 assists—this time with more experience under their belt.

Here’s a look at the complete rosters for the Rising Stars Game:

Team World

Team USA

Bogdan Bogdanovic, SAC, G

Lonzo Ball*, LAL, G

Dillon Brooks, MEM, F-G

Malcolm Brogdon*, MIL, G

Joel Embiid, PHI, C

Jaylen Brown, BOS, G-F

Buddy Hield, SAC, G

John Collins, ATL, F-C

Lauri Markkanen, CHI, F

Kris Dunn, CHI, G

Jamal Murray, DEN, G

De'Aaron Fox**, SAC, G

Frank Ntilikina, NYK, G

Brandon Ingram, LAL, F

Domantas Sabonis, IND, C-F

Kyle Kuzma, LAL, F

Dario Saric, PHI, F

Donovan Mitchell, UTA, G

Ben Simmons, PHI, G-F

Taurean Prince**, ATL, F

-

Dennis Smith Jr., DAL, G

-

Jayson Tatum, BOS, F

*=Injured, **=Replacement

An upstart Philadelphia 76ers team is sending three players to the Rising Stars Game as part of the international side on Friday night. Ben Simmons, Dario Saric and Joel Embiid all earned a nod for a contest that showcases the best first- and second-year players in the league, although Embiid isn’t expected to play much, if at all—he didn’t suit up last year either due to injury—given his selection as a starter in the proper All-Star Game.

[Update: Embiid will take part in the Rising Stars Game, as per Keith Pompey]

Simmons was hoping to be joining his teammate on Sunday night, but the rookie passed over three times as a possible injury replacement, prompting him to question the league’s decision-making process, as per The Inquirer:

I don’t really know what an all-star is anymore. I mean if it was about win-lose, you picked Dragic [whose team was ahead of the Sixers at the time] obviously and you pick Kemba, whose team is seven wins under us. It is what it is, but my stats don’t lie.

ESPN Stats & Info noted that Embiid is in rare company for his Rising Stars and All-Star dual-selection:

Expect Simmons, the No. 1 overall pick in 2016 who sat out the entire 2016-17 campaign with an injury, to play with a chip on his shoulder and dominate a game that isn’t exactly known for defense. The 6’10” point guard is a top candidate to win the MVP award thanks to the added motivation of an All-Star snub, as well as a skillset that translates perfectly to an exhibition contest like this one. The World Team’s offense will run through the Australian national, who can set up teammates for easy and exciting scores with his elite court vision and passing capabilities. The 21-year-old is also an excellent athlete who is more than capable of snaring rebounds, running the floor and throwing down highlight dunks of his own.

The U.S. group will struggle to contain Simmons, especially with two of the better players on the team likely to see only a handful of minutes. Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t projected to play much in front of the hometown crowd after head coach Luke Walton made it clear he’d like them to get a break after the squad participated in the league’s only back-to-back before All-Star Weekend.

According to LakersNation.com, Walton had this to say about the pair of Lakers in the Rising Stars Game:

I need to figure out who’s coaching that team and call them and tell them not to play our players very many minutes because of the fact we had a back-to-back that they’ll be coming off of…15 to 20 minutes would be a lot to me.

Mike Trudell reported that Ingram and Kuzma are set to go, even after logging a decent amount of minutes over the last two days:

Both Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram said they’re good to go in the Rising Stars game on Friday night. They’ll be the only two players coming off a back-to-back on Wednesday/Thursday. Ingram played 65 total minutes and Kuzma 48.

The coach that Walton needs to find is Roy Rogers, assistant for the Houston Rockets, who will be helming the United States squad on Friday night. With a roster that only goes 10 deep, it’s going to be interesting to see how he manages the rotation in order to keep the playing time of Kuzma and Ingram down. It could result in the other players getting tired, which will hurt the USA’s chances of pulling off an upset as a four-point underdog.

There are a lot of young stars on both rosters, but the international squad is healthier, more experienced and more talented. This team will find a way to put together an easy win to cover the spread on Friday night.